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O’Rourke took four wickets, while Santner and Bracewell got two each, just days before teams meet in Champions Trophy opener

Deivarayan Muthu14-Feb-2025Despite injuries to Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears, Matt Henry and Rachin Ravindra, New Zealand clinched the tri-series title in Karachi and sounded out a warning to the hosts, five days before they meet again in the Champions Trophy opener at the same venue. In the absence of the senior quicks, Will O’Rourke stepped up admirably with a four-wicket haul, while the spinners, led by Mitchell Santner, straightjacketed Pakistan in the middle overs, limiting them to 242.The batters then completed the demolition job on a two-paced surface, chasing the target with 28 balls and five wickets to spare. After Devon Conway and Kane Williamson set the platform with a 71-run partnership for the second wicket, Daryl Mitchell launched from there in the middle overs, befuddling Pakistan’s spinners with his variety of sweeps, including the reverse. He struck up an 87-run stand with Tom Latham, which highlighted New Zealand’s dominance in the middle overs, before Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips sealed the deal.It was Phillips who had kicked off the tri-series with an unbeaten 106 off 74 balls, his maiden ODI century, against Pakistan, before Williamson reminded the world of his genius with an unbeaten century of his own in New Zealand’s second game of the tri-series against South Africa. Having bagged ducks in those two games – and also against Sri Lanka in Auckland last month – Latham made a timely return to form, and re-established himself as New Zealand’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter with his 56 off 64 balls.Related

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Latham had benefitted from multiple reprieves – he was dropped by Shaheen Shah Afridi off his own bowling on 15, and then by Saud Shakeel at square leg on 29. Earlier, when he was on 13, legspinner Abrar Ahmed pinged him on his pad and wasn’t given out lbw. Pakistan missed a trick by not going for a review, with ball-tracking indicating that it had pitched in line and would have crashed into the stumps.Abrar, Pakistan’s specialist spinner, lacked penetration, and was taken for 67 in his ten overs. In stark contrast, New Zealand’s premier spinner Santner was unhittable, coming away with his most economical ten-over spell in ODI cricket. Forty of his 60 balls were dots as Santner varied his pace from the mid-70s kph range to mid-90s kph with remarkable control. Bracewell also kept things tight, finishing with 2 for 38 in his ten overs.The first powerplay was a portent for Pakistan’s go-slow. The hosts played out 48 dots in the powerplay, in which they managed 48 for 2, and failed to hit a high tempo through the innings. After taking a sequence of short balls away from Fakhar Zaman with his sharp angle from over the wicket, including two off-side wides, O’Rourke brought a fuller one back into the opener and had him chipping a catch to square leg for 10 off 15 balls.Babar Azam then brought the Karachi crowd alive when he laced Jacob Duffy through the covers for four, and became the joint fastest to 6000 ODI runs in his 123rd innings, alongside Hashim Amla. Nathan Smith, the seam-bowling allrounder, though spoiled the party when he had Babar spooning a return catch for 29 off 34 balls in his first over.Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan needed 13 balls to get off the mark, and then four more balls to find the boundary. Salman Agha was more fluent at the other end, wedging the ball into the gaps as the pair forged an 88-run partnership for the fourth wicket.Will O’Rourke claimed career-best ODI figures of 4 for 43•Getty Images

The stand, however, ended when O’Rourke returned to the attack and had Rizwan chopping on with a cross-seamer, which stopped on him, for 46 off 76 balls. After hitting hard lengths and the splice of batters with high pace and bounce in the early exchanges, O’Rourke proved that he could be just as effective with the older ball. Almost five overs later, Bracewell had Agha miscuing a reverse sweep to short third to leave Pakistan at 161 for 5 in the 37th over.Tayyab Tahir then gave the innings a leg-up with his 38 off 33 balls, but his innings was cut short by Duffy in the 42nd over. Tahir was the only batter in Pakistan’s top seven to strike at over 100. In the last eight overs, New Zealand conceded just four boundaries, keeping Pakistan to 242.The new ball did a lot more under lights, with Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi using the swing and seam movement on offer to apply pressure on Conway and Williamson. In the first powerplay during the chase, the broadcaster put up a graphic showing the average swing achieved during the two innings. New Zealand’s seamers had generated 1.5 degrees of swing, and Pakistan’s 2.4 degrees.The experienced pair of Conway and Williamson absorbed all of that pressure, and once the ball became older and softer, they picked away Pakistan’s spinners. Williamson carted Agha’s offspin over mid-off while Conway flayed Abrar and Khushdil Shah through the covers. When Williamson tried to pop Agha over the infield once again, he caused the ball to dip and turn to castle him for 34 off 49 balls. Conway then departed two short of his half-century, but the depth in skill in New Zealand’s middle order was too much to overcome for Pakistan.New Zealand will be strengthened further by the potential return of Ravindra and Ferguson for the Champions Trophy opener on Wednesday.

Stoinis reveals text saying: “I’ll be home for a little bit and then I’m coming back to win this World Cup”

Alex Malcolm02-Nov-2023Australia’s World Cup campaign has hit another hurdle with star allrounder Mitchell Marsh ruled out of the England clash after flying home for personal reasons.Marsh has flown home to Perth and will not play in Saturday’s clash with England in Ahmedabad. This comes on the back of Glenn Maxwell being ruled out of the clash after suffering a concussion during a golf day on Monday.Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement on Thursday that Marsh had flown home on Wednesday night. “Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh has returned home from the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 late last night for personal reasons,” the statement said. “A timeline on his return to the squad is to be confirmed. No further detail will be offered at this time.”Marcus Stoinis is likely to be fit to come into the side having recovered from a minor calf problem that has kept him out of the last two matches against the Netherlands and New Zealand but Cameron Green will also be set for a recall while Marnus Labuschagne is likely to remain in the middle order. Australia will be down to only 13 fit players for the clash with England with Sean Abbott and Alex Carey the only others available in the squad.”He’s flown home late last night: he’s got a family issue going on,” Stoinis said on Thursday morning. “And, like we all know, family is very important. He’s doing the right thing and he’s getting home and he’s seeing the people he needs to see and then I don’t think there’s a timeline on when he’s coming back but I’m sure he’ll do what he needs to do at home and then and then get back. He sent me a message last night saying, ‘I’ll be home for a little bit and then I’m coming back to win this World Cup’ so that makes me smile.”You miss him off the field or in terms of his energy and his personality around the team as much as we’re going to miss him on the field. But you can pretty much see how the team’s going to line up anyway, and there’s bases covered. I joked with him that he just passes the overs back to me now – and thanks for that… We will miss him and yeah, he’ll be back soon. And the train keeps rolling.”Marcus Stoinis is set to return from a calf niggle against England•AFP/Getty Images

Marsh’s absence will also likely mean that Steven Smith will return to his preferred position at No.3. But it is a huge blow to Australia’s balance with two of their most explosive and destructive players in Marsh and Maxwell missing for the match against England as they look to shore up a semi-final spot.Stoinis confirmed that he is hoping to be fit enough to bowl 10 overs – if required – following his calf issue. “I’ll have a big training session today [Thursday], go through my paces. But I think I’m ready to go, touch wood,” he said. He attempted to convince coach Andrew McDonald and selector George Bailey that he was available to face New Zealand in Dharamsala last week, but they decided to delay his return by a week.”There’s been moving parts… it hasn’t been the smoothest campaign and we’ve gone from losing the first couple to now sitting in the top four,” Stoinis said. “There is a silver lining there. It always feels good when you walk towards the finals and boys starting coming back into the team and that sort of thing. We saw it with Heady [Travis Head] last game so it could be our secret weapon.”

Potts has retained his place, while Billings has been dropped following Foakes’ recovery after a bout of Covid-19

Vithushan Ehantharajah02-Aug-2022England have handed a recall to Ollie Robinson for the upcoming home Test series with South Africa.Robinson, the right-arm seamer whose last Test appearance was against Australia in Hobart in January this year, has made the squad of 14 for the first two matches of the three-match series after a battle with an array of ailments that kept him out of action for almost two months. After coming through problems with his back, Covid-19, and dental issues, he will be in line to add to his nine caps so far.Related

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Robinson, 28, has had a mixed start to his Test cricketer, despite exemplary overall figures of 39 dismissals at an average of 21.28. His debut at Lord’s at the start of last summer was marred by the emergence of historic offensive tweets, before he put that behind him to emerge as England’s standout bowler of 2021 and earning a spot as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. However, he was publicly admonished for his fitness during the 4-0 Ashes defeat, something which came in for further scrutiny when he was unable to play a part in England’s tour of the Caribbean in March.He began the 2022 summer looking to put that problem behind him only for back spasms and other niggles to restrict him to just four first-class appearances by the middle of May. But 4 for 44 and 5 for 66 in his return to County Championship action for Sussex against Nottinghamshire last week, getting through 36.1 overs, showed Robinson was back on the right path. He will continue to prove his game-readiness by turning out for the England Lions in their four-day match against the South Africans at Canterbury, which begins on August 9. ESPNcricinfo understands batter Harry Brook, also a member of the 14-man squad, will play in this match too.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The finishing touches on the squad were made by the selection committee on Monday, with Brendon McCullum dialling in from New Zealand. He is due to be back in England by the start of next week.Robinson was expected to be part of the Lions squad, which is expected to be named on Friday. But an injury to Surrey quick Jamie Overton, who made his debut in the final Test against New Zealand at Headingley, saw them pick Robinson in the main group. Robinson was due to represent Manchester Originals in the Hundred, which starts on Wednesday, but opted to continue at Sussex and play in their Royal London Cup matches instead.Durham’s Matthew Potts, one of the beneficiaries of Robinson’s absence, retained his place in the squad after 18 dismissals from his four Tests this summer. Wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings has dropped out now that Ben Foakes has recovered from his bout of Covid-19, which led to him being replaced during the Headingley Test.

At 23, Pant will become the fifth-youngest captain in the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Mar-2021Rishabh Pant has been appointed the Delhi Capitals captain for the 2021 IPL. The development comes in the wake of the Capitals’ regular captain Shreyas Iyer being ruled of the season after he dislocated his left shoulder during the ODI series against England. This is the first captaincy assignment for Pant in the IPL, who was bought by the Capitals before the 2016 IPL and then became the first player to be retained ahead of the 2018 mega auction.At 23, Pant will become the fifth-youngest captain in the IPL after Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, Suresh Raina and Iyer. While Kohli and Smith assumed leadership at 22, Raina and Iyer were 23 too but younger in terms of days than Pant.Despite his inexperience, Pant was one of the frontrunners in the captaincy race to replace Iyer along with the senior Indian pair of R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, who had long leadership stints at Kings XI Punjab and the Rajasthan Royals, respectively. Pant had only led Delhi in domestic cricket, but he has been in phenomenal form as a match-winner for India recently, starting with the historic Test series win in Australia followed by the series win across the three formats against England at home.Related

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Pant was “humbled” to take on the captaincy, which, he admitted, was a “dream” from the time he started playing for the Capitals.”Delhi is where I grew up, and where my IPL journey began six years ago,” Pant said in a Capitals media release. “To lead this team one day is a dream I’ve always harboured. And today, as that dream comes true, I feel humbled.”Iyer, who is awaiting surgery on his hand, said Pant was the “best man” to take charge at the Capitals in his absence. “I had no doubt that Rishabh would be the best man for the job,” Iyer said in the media release.The decision to appoint Pant was taken collectively by the franchise co-owners Kiran Kumar Grandhi and Parth Jindal along with the Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting.In the 2016 auction, the Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) bought Pant for INR 1.9 crore and in 2018, he got INR 15 crore (USD 2 million approx). In 2022, the IPL will host a mega auction where teams will overhaul squads while being able to retain a few players. Pant will once again be expected to be the first retention on the Capitals’ auction sheet. Along with Iyer, he is expected to be among the core group of players.The development marks a turnaround of sorts for Pant since the 2020 IPL. Pant had entered last IPL, which was played in the UAE, on the back of some strong words from the Indian team management, with his shot selection coming under the scanner.Although the Capitals reached the IPL final last season, Pant’s batting remained under par by his standards. Overall, he made 342 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of just 114 and an average of 31, with just one half-century. The Indian selectors wanted Pant to work on his fitness and did not include him in the squads for India’s limited-overs segments on the Australia tour. Despite the snub, Pant ended the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as India’s best batsman, including setting up the historic win on the final day of the Brisbane Test, where several of India’s frontline players were absent.Pant then dominated England both in the Test series as well as the white-ball segments, with some adventurous and dominant strokeplay including the memorable reverse scoop against James Anderson in the Test series against England.Ponting said Pant now had a “tremendous opportunity” to bring that form in the IPL. “The previous two seasons under Shreyas’ leadership have been incredible, and the results speak for themselves,” Ponting said in the media release. “This is a tremendous opportunity for young Rishabh, who is coming off successful stints against Australia and England which will no doubt give him the confidence needed to take on a new role that comes with a lot more responsibility.”According to Jindal, Pant with his brand of cricket “embodied” the ethos of the Capitals. “Delhi Capitals as a team plays a passionate and fearless brand of cricket, and Rishabh Pant embodies that best. The Delhi team has played an important role in his growth as a cricketer, just like he has played an equally important role in the growth of the Delhi team.”

India took apart South Africa’s spinners to finish with 27 sixes in the match, five more than any team has ever hit in a Test

The Report by Sidharth Monga05-Oct-20194:05

Agarkar: Rohit can better his own record for most sixes

In his second innings as opener, Rohit Sharma scored a century even better than in the first to set up a declaration for India with a day and 13 possible overs to go. In the nine overs before bad light brought a premature end to play on the fourth day, Ravindra Jadeja removed the first-innings centurion Dean Elgar.Rohit’s was another six-filled innings but on a worn-out surface with the ball beginning to rag. A strike rate of 85.23 on day four was truly exceptional, and just what India needed after South Africa had kept them in the field for far longer than they would have liked to.

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Rohit became only the second India opener to score twin tons in a Test, and now holds the record for most sixes in an international match in all three formats. Batsmen around him had a merry time as the South Africa spinners went into complete breakdown, undoing the work done by their batsmen on day three and the fast bowlers at the start of India’s innings.Only two bowlers in Test cricket – timeless ones included – have conceded more runs than Keshav Maharaj’s 318 in this game. He went for 129 in his 22 overs, and wasn’t even close to being the most unimpressive bowler on show. Dane Piedt’s inconsistency was taken apart: he was hit for nine sixes in his 17 overs, which went for 102 runs. Between them, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada went for just 62 in 25 overs, and it could be argued they bowled better than that.BCCI

It is hard to believe, but for a session and a third, it all seemed to be going to plan for South Africa. Starting the day 117 behind, they had a sticky last-wicket stand of 35 and also kept India’s scoring in check. It took India two hours and 27 minutes of play to get back to a lead of 117. Philander had bowled a spell of 4-3-2-0, Maharaj has taken a wicket, and Rabada kept asking questions. While Rohit had managed to hit three sixes, rotating the strike had been difficult and the scoring rate hovered around two.It was an interesting time in India’s innings. It might seem ridiculous after the later onslaught, but there was a brief period when India needed to make sure they didn’t collapse and allowed South Africa hopes of winning the Test. Pujara was cautious to begin with; when he began to look for runs, he found that the pitch was not easy right now to manipulate gaps. He kept skipping down the pitch, but he kept finding fielders on the leg side. An outside edge off Piedt went down, but so big was the deflection that to call it a chance would be cruel on Quinton de Kock.Two overs before a drinks break, gloves came out for Pujara. Rohit berated him for lack of urgency in running. You could feel there was pressure building on Pujara. He still kept finding the fielders. You wondered if he would finally try to loft the ball. He skipped down to Piedt again, was beaten in the air – a rare occurrence – and then managed to get a thin inside edge to beat de Kock and get four runs. After that, as if magically, the ball began to find gaps.Pujara was 8 off 62 before this, and India 64 for 1 in the 28th over. The flood gates opened so dramatically that he had hit four fours in seven balls. All along the ground. In the extended middle session, he went past Rohit’s score and also his boundary count. The only time he hit in the air, though, was when spinners bowled long hops, and he put them both several rows back in the stands.Rohit Sharma made his opening debut with centuries in both innings•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rohit’s six-hitting at the other end was something else. Except for one, his 10th of the match that landed in long-on’s hands but Senuram Muthusamy’s foot just flicked the rope before he did the release-and-step-out trick, all of Rohit’s sixes were regal languid hits. It was contagious with Jadeja hitting three in 32 balls, and Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane landing one each of their own. India hit 27 sixes in the match, five more than any team has ever hit in a Test; the overall tally of 34 sin the match was one short of the record.Pujara once again got a beauty from Philander to be dismissed lbw by a straight ball that seamed away, but by then he and Rohit had put India on the path to domination again. The torment, though, was to continue. India promoted Jadeja possibly to get a right-left combination going, but he didn’t have to worry about picking up the scoring rare because Rohit gave already high rate a boost by hitting Piedt for three consecutive sixes.By the time Rohit missed once, South Africa had been beaten into submission and they chased after him to congratulate on his superb effort: more runs and more centuries in a match than anyone opening for the first time.After some more fun – it was arguable India enjoyed themselves for a bit too long keeping in mind there could be some rain on the final day – Kohli asked South Africa to enter the cauldron again. India were not allowed to use fast bowlers because of the light, but it wasn’t a blow to them. Spinners would have done the bulk of the bowling anyway. Before stumps, Jadeja trapped Elgar in front, but before that he had to convince his captain to go for a review.Having worked hard with the bat on day three, having batted out 131.2 overs, South Africa’s batsmen will be filthy with their spinners for having put them in such a situation yet again.

It is understood that Bengaluru will host the rescheduled tournament with the league fixtures slated for August 23, 25 and 27

Shashank Kishore in Vijayawada19-Aug-2018The Quadrangular series between the A teams of India, Australia and South Africa has been shifted out of Vijayawada due to incessant rains. The change was confirmed by an Andhra Cricket Association official soon after four games were washed out without a ball bowled. ESPNcricinfo understands Bengaluru will now host the rescheduled tournament with the league fixtures slated for August 23, 25 and 27. The final will be played on August 29.Matches to be televised will likely be held at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, while the others are expected to take place at KSCA’s Alur facility on the outskirts of the city. Alur hosted the recently concluded second four-day Test between India A and South Africa A earlier this month.The ACA ground in Mulapadu, which was to host the fixtures, does not have a state-of-the-art drainage facility. Vijayawada has received intermittent rain over the past week. This forced the first set of matches to be abandoned on Friday despite there not being any rain for more than 24 hours in the build-up to the start.The ACA was confident of preparing the surface and outfield for Sunday, provided there was no rain, but there was a thunderstorm on Saturday evening. This resulted in water seepage that caused significant damage to the pitch and outfield. Sunday dawned with continuous drizzle, and although both teams made it out to the ground, they had to return to their hotel not long after making the hour-long trip.That the one indoor facility in Mangalagiri is an hour’s drive from Vijayawada has added to the players’ frustration, leaving them with little or no opportunities for match practice in the five days they’ve been in the city. They have been forced to remain indoors or undertake fitness sessions at a private gym.

Ryan ten Doeschate’s first hundred of the season put Essex in a good position after another day of heavy run scoring against Surrey at Guildford

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2017
ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate’s first hundred of the season put Essex in a good position after another day of heavy run scoring against Surrey at Guildford.The Essex captain has struggled to recapture the form he showed last season when he scored 1,226 runs with four centuries, but he finished unbeaten on 120 with Essex 367 for 7 in reply to Surrey’s 399.He came in when his side were in a spot of bother. Surrey skipper Gareth Batty had taken two quick wickets to reduce Essex to 134 for 4, but Ravi Bopara helped ten Doeschate rebuild the innings with a stand of 120 in 27 overs, of which Bopara contributed 64, his first half-century of the season.Ten Doeschate had a life on 37 when wicketkeeper Ben Foakes put down a difficult chance down the leg side but grew in confidence as he built his innings, playing authoritative shots on both sides of the wicket. A leg glance off Stuart Meaker took him to his hundred, off 120 balls, and by stumps he had faced 144 balls and hit a six and 18 fours.Surrey’s attack stuck to their task throughout and there were moments in the day when they looked to be in control. Sam Curran had Alastair Cook lbw with a touch of late inswing on the stroke of lunch and after Tom Westley was squared up by Mark Footitt, Batty struck twice with Nick Browne lbw working to leg and Dan Lawrence cutting straight to point.But Bopara and ten Doeschate took advantage of quick-scoring conditions to build a useful partnership which ended when Stuart Meaker returned to the attack and found a touch of reverse swing to pin Bopara, offering no shot, having hit nine fours and two sixes.Footitt returned to pick up James Foster and Simon Harmer but Neil Wagner helped ten Doeschate add 41 for the eighth wicket on a day when 413 runs were scored.Earlier, Mark Stoneman completed a career-best 197 but just missed out on a maiden double hundred. The left-hander resumed on 181 and scored the seven he needed to take him past his previous best, made for former county Durham against Middlesex in 2014.Ryan ten Doeschate’s hundred rallied Essex•Getty Images

Essex wicketkeeper Foster dived in front of slip to take the edge after Stoneman made his first mistake, driving outside off stump at a delivery from Wagner he could have ignored. He faced 248 balls and hit two sixes and 26 fours.Batty drove to point off Bopara before Jamie Porter switched ends to finish the innings when he picked up Ravi Rampaul and Footitt in five balls as Surrey lost their last four wickets in four overs for seven runs.

George Bailey has been called in by Rising Pune Supergiants as the replacement for Faf du Plessis, who was ruled out of the IPL with a finger injury

Nagraj Gollapudi02-May-2016Australia batsman George Bailey has been called in by Rising Pune Supergiants as the replacement for Faf du Plessis, who was ruled out of the IPL with a finger injury.Supergiants will be Bailey’s third IPL franchise: he has already represented Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, where he was the captain in 2015 before the franchise decided to release him. At the auction in February, Bailey, who had listed his base price as Rs 1 crore (USD 148,000 approx), did not find any buyers despite his name coming up twice.Supergiants, one of the two new teams introduced this season, have endured a string of losses and are currently sixth on the points table with just two wins in eight games. Injuries have added to their woe, with four of their first-pick overseas players being ruled out over the past week. Before du Plessis, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen tore his calf while batting in the home match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh managed to play just three matches before eventually returning to Australia earlier this week due to a side strain. Possibly the biggest blow came on Monday morning when Cricket Australia’s medical team announced that Australia captain Steven Smith, who had scored his maiden T20 century on April 29, had picked a wrist injury and needed to return home.”Smith’s [news] been a bummer. He was just coming into his own and this happened,” Raghu Iyer, chief executive at Supergiants, said. “It is a challenging time. Before we could settle down we lost the core group of players around whom you build a team around.”According to Iyer, given Bailey’s leadership experience, he can cover for the loss of Smith and Pietersen. “We lost four crucial players, but we are looking ahead. Bailey has tremendous experience and had a very successful season before last. He can contribute to the leadership group,” Iyer said. In 34 IPL games, Bailey has 579 runs at 25.17, with a strike rate 129.82.Iyer said the franchise is likely to announce Marsh’s replacement in the next two days. They have already signed Australia batsman Usman Khawaja as Pietersen’s replacement.

Lancashire may not have achieved promotion in the style they would have liked, but the hour-long wait to confirm their success completes a remarkable turnaround of fortunes

Myles Hodgson at Old Trafford14-Sep-2013
ScorecardBen Raine made his best first-class score as Leicestershire battled gamely to a draw•Getty Images

Lancashire may not have achieved promotion in the style they would have liked, but the hour-long wait to confirm their success completes a remarkable turnaround of fortunes. Relegated as reigning champions just a year ago, their return to Division One was confirmed after third-placed Essex were unable to secure victory against Kent at Canterbury.By the time news filtered through, there were precious few people left at Old Trafford to mark the event, after Lancashire’s final home match meandered to a draw on the final day. The players, of course, enjoyed their own celebration in the dressing room but the rest of the refurbished ground was empty other than a few members of the media writing up in the press box and the odd construction worker disassembling the temporary stands used for the Ashes Test and recent one-day international.Resuming the final morning trailing by 393 runs on 60 for 3, Leicestershire comfortably batted out the day and avoided a seventh successive defeat mainly thanks to a 69-run seventh-wicket stand between Ben Raine, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday, and Tom Wells. Raine top-scored with a career-best 72, while Wells also made his best first-class score of 43, and both sides shook hands on a draw after Leicestershire were dismissed for 329.It was a low-key end to Lancashire’s season at Old Trafford and, although they may finish the summer with silverware – Lancashire need only 12 points from their final two matches to secure the Division Two title – thoughts will inevitably turn to next year and whether the team can adapt to Division One cricket better than 12 months ago?They certainly have a bigger playing pool, with youngsters like Luis Reece and Andrea Agathangelou breaking through this summer to keep Steven Croft and Karl Brown, the two players at the crease when Lancashire claimed the championship at Taunton in 2011, out of the Championship side. They will also be able to call upon the experience of Ashwell Prince, the former South Africa Test batsman, who fulfils the final year of his two-year deal as a Kolpak player next summer.Reece’s emergence as an opening partner for Paul Horton has provided the foundation for much of Lancashire’s success this summer. In six innings opening together, they have recorded three century partnerships – in stark contrast to last summer when Lancashire had to wait until the final game of the summer for their first century opening stand – and should provide greater stability going into next season.Lancashire would also like to add Simon Katich, the 38-year-old former Australia batsman, to their squad for next season as an overseas player, after he contributed 1,097 Championship runs to their promotion push, including four hundreds and six half-centuries, at an average of 73.13. He will play no further part in their season as he is due to fly out to India this weekend to captain Perth Scorchers in the Champions League and discussions about next summer are expected to begin after the end of that tournament.Should Katich decide against another gruelling six months in county cricket, Lancashire have confirmed they would look to recruit another quality overseas batsman having already made the exciting signing of Kyle Jarvis, the 24-year-old former Zimbabwe Test bowler, on a three-year contract as a Kolpak player to strengthen their bowling resources. Jarvis claimed 30 wickets in eight Tests and has certainly looked the part during lunch-time bowling sessions at Old Trafford, bowling at a good pace and accuracy, but has yet to be tested in a first-team fixture.Jarvis’ pace will certainly add something to Lancashire’s attack, which has lacked a quick bowler for some years, and will ease the workload on Glen Chapple, their 39-year-old captain. They are well stocked in the spin department, with Simon Kerrigan having already proven himself in Division One. Stephen Parry, another left-arm spinner, should strengthen that department, having missed most of this season with a broken arm, while Arron Lilley, a 22-year-old offspinner, also made his Championship debut this summer.Do Lancashire have enough strength in depth to challenge for the title, as Yorkshire have done, in the season after going up? Much will depend on Lancashire’s recruitment policies during the winter. Their Roses rivals secures Liam Plunkett and Jack Brooks a year ago, which has helped them mount a title challenge.Certainly Katich is confident. “Having played Yorkshire last year [with Hampshire], they’ve brought in Plunkett and Brooks and, apart from that, their team is pretty similar,” he said. “The batting line-up is almost the same, apart from one or two young kids. They played some good cricket last year, Jason Gillespie is a good coach and they’ve probably built on that confidence and had another good year, so there’s no reason why that couldn’t also happen here.”

Rajasthan are missing key players but their captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar believes the Irani Cup contest against a strong Rest of India side is not “uneven.”

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Sep-2012Aakash Chopra, Pankaj Singh and Rituraj Singh, three men who contributed to Rajasthan’s successful Ranji Trophy campaign last season, are absent from the squad but their captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar believes the Irani Cup contest against a strong Rest of India side is not “uneven.”Chopra, one Rajasthan’s three professionals and their third highest run-scorer, moved to Himachal Pradesh. Pankaj, the third highest wicket-taker in the 2011-12 tournament with 34 victims, is recovering from an injury. Rituraj, a the star performer with the ball during the knockouts, is touring New Zealand on India A duty. These three players, along with Robin Bist, Vineet Saxena and Sumit Mathur, were pillars of Rajasthan’s success last year. At one stage during the league phase Rajasthan, who were defending their maiden title won in 2010-11, were in the danger of being relegated to the Plate League, but they finished winners instead.Kanitkar, however, said the belief that Rajasthan could challenge Rest of India came from their hard work in the last two years. “We are a state team and they are representing the rest of the country. So on paper, it definitely looks off balance,” he said. “But we have a combination that has done well and we will stick to it and then who knows what will happen.”When told the last team to beat Rest of India to win the Irani Cup was Railways in 2000, Kanitkar said his team was capable of doing the same. “A couple of seasons back, Rajasthan had never won the Ranji for 76 years. So this record is not that imposing, it is just 10 years old. Hopefully, we will be able to win it this time.”One reason for Kanitkar’s belief is that he can draw on the experience of two coaches: Meyrick Pringle, the former South African fast bowler, and Chandrakant Pandit, the former India wicketkeeper and a successful domestic coach. Pringle, who was brought in as a consultant for the second half of the previous season, was given a formal contract by the Rajasthan Cricket Association last month. Pringle, according to the players, was one of the architects behind Rajasthan’s fast bowlers bouncing back during the end of the season.Pandit, who formerly coached various Ranji Trophy sides including Mumbai and Maharashtra, was signed by RCA late last season as the director of cricket. He also doubles up as the coach of the senior team and is expected to renew bonds with Kanitkar, who was the Maharasthra captain when Pandit was coach.With the curator having left some grass on the pitch, both Cheteshwar Pujara, the Rest of India captain, and Kanitkar said they would play at least three seamers. In the absence of Pankaj and Rituraj, Kanitkar said it was a good oportunity for Deepak Chahar, who made headlines with his record performance against Hyderabad in a Plate group Ranji match, to prove his talent once again. “Rituraj Singh came in when Deepak Chahar missed a lot of action in the last season due to jaundice. Deepak had done well a couple of seasons back. Rituraj had grabbed that opportunity. When Rituraj is not there, Deepak has come back. This match is a big stage and hope Deepak will make use of it,” Kanitkar said. Chahar is likely to share the new ball with the left-right combination of Ankit Choudhary and Sumit Mathur.